Christmastime in der Schweiz

My chocolate Sammiclau with the Advent candles.

  Well it's December, and a week until Christmas comes, and with a little time this morning it is perfect time to write a much over due blog post. In a lot of ways, Christmas time in Switzeraland is similar to that at home, but with a few big differences.

  First of all, one of the most obvious differences is the lack of one of my favorite Christmas characters, Santa Clause. Actually, I have yet to see one in a department store, or in anyone's home. The big jolly man in a red suit is obviously absent from the Christmas season as are his holiday specials on television- which thanks to you tube I have been able to watch. The Swiss may not have Santa Clause, but they do have Sammiclaus or St. Nickolaus who comes to all the children's homes on December 6th. He tells every Swiss child (he also comes to other European countries) whether they have been naughty or nice during the year looking at a big book. If the children have been good, they receive; chocolates, oranges, and peanuts. But when the children have been naughty, they are beaten with sticks by the Smutzli's (people who accompany Sammiclaus dressed in black and are all around very scary).

  Another holiday difference is the focus of the decorations around town and the vibe of the Christmas season. Advent, being the 4 Sundays before Christmas Day, is much more important than it is back home. Almost every house has the four Advent candles, which are placed on a beautiful wreath decorated with little ornament balls. a new one is lit every Sunday in Advent and are re lit for most meals.

  I have also yet to see a Swiss equivalent to 'ABC Family's 25 Days of Chrsitmas' which one of my Christmas traditions I truly miss. No new Holiday specials every night, with the obligatory 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer', 'Frosty the Snowman', 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town', just to name a few. I really miss curling up on the sofa with peppermint hot chocolate and watching Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, but thanks to YouTube I was able to find most of my favorite specials to curb my need for Christmas specials.
 
   The decorations here in Altdorf, are simpler and less colorful than the lights and window decorations we see at home. The main street is gilded with big white lights connecting to the tops of both sides of the roof tops, making a beautiful little tunnel of lights. The bigger fir trees are also decked out with lights, but all of them white, as are the ones on peoples house windows. No Christmas lane or houses covered top to bottom in wonderful colorful lights, blow up Santa's, Candy Canes, or reindeer's on the rooftops. And inside its no change, no Christmas villages, no tinsel around staircase, or 14 foot Christmas tree. We will be getting a Christmas tree, but it wont come until a few days until Christmas as most Swiss people use real candles on their trees, so at the moment the house is quite bare.

  It seems strange that Christmas is only a week away, and I still have school next week and have not been skiing yet. It is almost as if Christmas is sneaking up on me, and that it doesn't seem plausible that it could really be Christmas time being so far ways from home. The snow today helped a lot, due to that fact that I'm still a 5 year old when ever it snows. Its just not the same, because I know how my house looks right now, and I miss going to sleep to the sound of my snow globes Christmas tunes. Christmas decorations may be tuned down quite a lot, but seeing the Christmas tree decorated all over school and the lights in the streets still makes me smile and reminds me of how wonderful this time of the year truly is.

My Christmas presents, my mom even sent a stocking! 

The first snow of the season!